This invention relates to an assembly that includes a strap that is adapted to be placed about a body part, such as a lanyard or the like.
There are many types of articles that include a strap to be worn about a part of the body, which may be generically termed lanyards and may include loop-like elements worn about the neck or the wrist and even belts worn about the waist. In many cases, these lanyards are fitted with some sort of a mounting element such that another article may be attached to the strap. For example, identification cards may be affixed to lanyards such as belts or loops worn about the neck. Sports officials frequently will attach whistles to loops worn about the neck or wrist.
While such uses of lanyards are advantageous, they are not without their drawbacks. For example, a worker around machinery and wearing an identification card, as is a fairly common occurrence, attached either to a belt or to a loop worn about the neck, can be severely injured if the loose identification card attached lanyard becomes caught in the machinery and pull the worker into the machinery. Similarly, unruly fans at sporting events might grab a sport official""s whistle or the like such that injury could occur to the sports official if he could not break away from the fan.
Seron in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,027,477 and 5,092,018 discloses one type of breakaway lanyard, the disclosures of which are hereby incorporated herein by reference. The lanyard of the two Seron patents consists of a strap forming a closed loop of flexible material adapted to be disposed about a part of a human body, a mounting element on the loop at a fixed location thereon for mounting an object to be displayed or used by the wearer of the lanyard, and a breakaway element defining a weak point whereat the loop may be open and be pulled free from the wearer. The weak point is always located remotely from the mounting element. Seron claims that this spaced apart relationship is a critical feature of his invention.
Seron""s use of a xe2x80x9cfixed location xe2x80x9d to permanently space the mounting element at a location remote from the breakaway point can be a problem for some users and one solution to the problems associated with such a fixed spacing relationship would be to make the mounting element a free-floating device, thereby allowing the mounting element to freely rotate about the lanyard. At least one such breakaway lanyard is presently commercially available. However, the free floating mounting element has its own drawbacks, including one shared with the Seron device; namely, it does not give the wearer of the lanyard the ability to decide where the mounting element should best be positioned in relationship to the breakway point. As described above, Seron""s device preselects the location and fixes it permanently, giving the user a xe2x80x9csingle-choicexe2x80x9d option. The free-floating device gives the user no options at all.
As taught herein below, the present invention alleviates this drawback of the prior art devices by making the mounting element user adjustable. If desired, the breakaway point can be sited close to the mounting element, or it can be sited far away from the breakaway point. Similarly, it can be user selected at any position there between.
The present invention is directed to a new and improved lanyard construction that may readily breakaway. In the present invention the mounting element, which includes a hook assembly whereby an object may be secured to a strap or a lanyard, is user adjustable as to the distance it may be spaced from the breakaway fixture, which is included as a safety release during the use of the lanyard.
In the present invention the user of the lanyard can move the mounting element to any desired position about the loop of the lanyard. Unlike the free-floating mounting element of the prior art, the mounting element of the present invention is adjustable, in that it may be moved along the length of the lanyard, by application of minimal force. Advantageously, once a location is selected the mounting element is held in place by frictional interaction between the lanyard material and the construct of the mounting element. Unlike the Seron devices, this location is not fixed, as the user, of the lanyard is free to change the location of the mounting element at will.
Thus, according to one embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a lanyard construction, which includes a strap forming a closed loop of flexible material adapted to be disposed about a part of a human body. An adjustable mounting element is on the loop. This mounting element is used for mounting an object to be displayed or used by the wearer of the lanyard. Finally, the lanyard construction of the present invention includes a breakaway member which defines a weak point in the strap whereat the loop may open and be pulled free from the wearer. In the present invention, the user of the lanyard selects the best location for separation of the weak point from the mounting element about the periphery of the lanyard loop. Such a location may be behind the wearer""s neck, or it may be some location closer to the mounting element. The user is provided with the ability to determine the best location for placement of the mounting element relative to the breakaway member, by merely moving the mounting element along the periphery of the lanyard loop.
According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the breakaway member comprises interengaging male and female parts on each end of the lanyard loop. Connections of this type are common in the prior art, and when joined together, a continuous loop is formed. Mounted on this lanyard loop is an adjustable mounting element, two of which are described in greater detail below.
While the Seron patents describe a male/female breakaway member that is functional, it is believed that the preferred breakaway member of the present invention is superior thereto. Accordingly, in a most preferred embodiment of the present invention, the breakaway member includes a male fixture, which has a protruding, rigid member having a pair of opposed notches adapted to releasably engage with detents provided in the corresponding female fixture. The simplicity of the present design in comparison to the prior art devices shows the superiority of the present breakaway member.
As described above, the lanyard of the present invention finally includes an adjustable mounting element, which permits the user of the lanyard to select the best location for both the breakaway member and the mounting element and the object (or objects) held thereby. Unlike prior art lanyards, such as Seron, the lanyard of the present invention is xe2x80x9cuser adjustablexe2x80x9d and has been designed to slide to any position on the lanyard, thus allowing the breakaway component to be positioned in the most ideal location based on individual user needs and preferences.
In one preferred embodiment of the present invention, the adjustable portion of the lanyard is provided by a xe2x80x9cSlide Hook(trademark)xe2x80x9d mechanism. The Slide Hook member is a molded plastic, user adjustable component, which comprises a combination of a hook unit and a slide unit. The hook unit holds the desired object, while the slide unit allows the entire mechanism to be moved by the wearer to any position on the lanyard, thus allowing the breakaway component to be positioned in the most ideal position based on individual user needs and preferences. The hook unit on the Slide Hook opens to receive and support many items for display such as employee ID Cards, keys, whistles, etc.
In another preferred embodiment of the present invention, the adjustable portion of the lanyard is provided with a xe2x80x9cUniversal Slide Attachment(trademark)xe2x80x9d mechanism. The Universal Slide Attachment is another user adjustable component feature which has been designed to slide to any position on the lanyard, thus allowing the breakaway component to be positioned in the most ideal position based on individual user needs and preferences. The Universal Slide Attachment comprises molded, snap-together, posi-lok plastic jaws to receive and hold many related components such as key rings, badge clips, swivel hooks, xe2x80x9cJxe2x80x9d hooks, etc., depending on the precise application.
The lanyard of the presents invention offers the followings improvements over previously known lanyard designs:
(1) Positioning of the breakaway component in the most ideal position on lanyard strap based on individual user needs and preferences by moving Slide Hook or Universal Slide Attachment at will.
(2) Advanced design keeps ID Cards or Badges from twisting and turningxe2x80x94cards and badges are forced to lie flat against the body for proper display and viewing.
(3) Adjustability allows individual users to position breakaway component at ideal position based on individual user body size, height, and the specific application (i.e., nurses prefer breakaway component to be behind neck to prevent an agitated patient from grabbing the lanyard at the breakaway component location, thus preventing the lanyard from actually breaking away, etc.)